Several weeks ago Michael Josephson, a nationally recognized speaker, was in Lawrence to visit with several audiences. At each presentation, panelists were queried by Josephson about how ethics, character and honesty interfaced with their jobs or professions.

The panelists included a minister, the governor, Kansas University’s chancellor and basketball coach, a hospital administrator, federal judge, county commissioner, state legislator, member of the Kansas Board of Regents, and the president and CEO of the regents.

Josephson began his successful career working with those in athletics — coaches, athletic directors and players at all levels.

In one of his presentations in Lawrence, the discussion turned to what he said was the questionable emphasis on sports, the money associated with sports and the importance placed on winning and the amount of revenue derived from winning teams.

Josephson followed up by asking Chancellor Hemenway, who also chairs the NCAA Division I board of directors, what he would do about coach Bill Self’s position if Self were to have three losing seasons at KU.

Hemenway’s answer was that he didn’t think Self would have three consecutive years with losing records. Josephson dropped the question and didn’t try to pin down the chancellor on how he’d handle such a situation.

Since that program in KU’s Woodruff Auditorium, several high-profile college football coaches have been fired because of losing records. Notre Dame and Stanford, both schools that enjoy reputations as highly ethical and where grades, education and character are among their hallmarks, fired their coaches.

It would be interesting to know how the chancellors or presidents of Stanford or Notre Dame would have answered Josephson’s question about their coaches two or three years ago.

Chances are they would have made a nice-sounding remark about the importance of playing the game the right way; that the young men and women at their universities were there to get an education; and that they were more interested in building character than relying on the win/loss record to determine a coach’s contract.

It all sounds good, but in all honesty and frankness, why don’t more university spokesmen admit the role and importance of sports, a winning program and the dollars major sports programs bring to the school?

A former Notre Dame football coach, in light of the firing of the current coach, noted that Notre Dame, because of its academic requirements, one year was able to recruit only 30 of the country’s top 100 high school or junior college football players. But the major football powers that year recruited 90 of the top players. The point is there are terrific differences in the levels of academic ability required by various major universities on the teams that represent the schools.

A school with lower academic requirements or a blind eye to police records has a big advantage over those that require top grades and behavior for entrance and athletic eligibility. This certainly plays a role in the win/loss records of the teams and whether a coach is able to maintain his job. Over the past year or so, many Notre Dame alumni and friends have called for lower academic requirements to field better teams and improve records.

There’s a great deal of good associated with intercollegiate sports, but there’s also a lot to be ashamed of. Coaches such as Bill Self and Roy Williams are good people with some of the best win/loss records in college basketball.

But what happens at KU and North Carolina, both of which profess to be “playing the game the right way,” when a coach does not come up with enough victories, regardless how nice a person he or she may be? It happened at North Carolina with Matt Doherty, former KU assistant and national coach of the year at Notre Dame. He didn’t win enough games to please North Carolina’s president, alumni, former coaches, students or friends and was fired.

The recent firings at Notre Dame and Stanford, among others, would seem to put the spotlight and pressure on all chancellors, athletic directors, coaches and alumni about the true mission of a university relative to its sports and academic programs. Actions speak louder than words.